Maritime Alps - Maps and Guide books

In Italy we used:

Carta Dei Sentieri e dei Refugi 1:25000 
113 Parco Naturale Alpi Marittime Entracque Valdieri Mercantour Gelas.


In France we used:

IGN (Institut Geographique National) 

3841OT  Vallee de la Roya, Vallee des Merveilles





3741OT Vallee de la Vesubie

3741ET Valles de la Bevera et des Paillons




There are two Cicerone guides that provide useful information on the area.



Walks and Treks in the Maritime Alps, by Gillian Price.







The GR5 Trail, by Paddy Dillon

Maritime Alps - Summary

Here is a summary of our itinerary.

From	To	Via	Mode of Travel	Ascent /m	Descent /m	Accomodation
Home	Paris	London	Train	N/A	N/A	Hotel In Paris
Paris	Entraque	Turin, Cuneo	Train, Train, Bus, Foot	N/A	N/A	Camping
Entraque	Entraque	Explored the village	Foot	N/A	N/A	Camping
Entraque	Rif Questa	Term di Valdieri	Hitched and on foot	1050	?	Rif. Questa
Rif. Questa	Rif Remondino	Col. Di Valasco, Piano della Casa,	Foot	1172	1004	Rif. Remondino
Rif Remondino	Rif. Genova Figari	Col. Di Broccan	Foot	482	947	Rif. Genova Figari
Rif Genova Figari	Rif Soria Ellena	Col. Di Finistrelle	Foot	611	774	Rif Soria Ellena
Rif Soria Ellena	Ref. Nice	Col. Di Finersta 1903, Pass du Mont Colomb 2548m, La Barme 2150m	Foot	1228	838	Ref Nice
Ref. Nice	Ref. Valmasque	Baisse du Basto 2693m	Foot	667	679	Ref. Valmasque
Ref. Valmasque	Ref. Valmasque	Col. Charnassere 2727m, Pas de Faus 2828m	Foot	901	888	Ref. Valmasque
Ref. Valmasque	Ref. Merveilles	Baisse de Valmasque 2549m	Foot	467	576	Ref. Merveilles
Ref. Merveilles	Wild camp Tete de Gais	Cime du Diable 2685m, Baisse Cavaline 2107m, Col de Raus 1999m, Baisse de St Veran 1836m, Pointe de Trois Communes 2080m, Baisse de Ventabren 1862m, Baisse de Dea 1750m, Mangiabo 1821m, Tete de Gais	Foot	1086	1699	Wild camp Tete de Gais
Wild camp Tete de Gais	Wild camp Morga	Baisse de la Liniere 1342m, baisse de Figuiera 760m, Sospel 354m, col de Razet 1032m	Foot	865	1482	Wild camp Morga
Wild camp Morga	Menton	Col de Bercea 1090m, Plan de Lion 720m, Garavan 0m	Foot	398	1256	Camp site Menton
Menton	Monte Carlo	Coast path	Foot	N\A	N\A	Camp site Menton
Menton	Home	Paris, London	Train	N\A	N\A	Home

Maritime Alps - Cime du Ters to Morga

Sospel

Sunday 1st September

We slept well on our private campsite. No noisy neighbours here.
The first col of the day was Baisse de la Liniete (1342m). We walked downhill all morning, mostly through pine woodland and mixed deciduous lower in the valley around Baisse de Figuera (750m) finally reaching a road and paths that took shortcuts into Sospel.

Sospel is a pleasant town with a river running through the middle and a distinctive old footbridge. We stopped for lunch and sat by the river to eat.

Dry rough terrain of the southern part of the GR52

The GR 52 is clearly marked out of town crossing a railway line and some short cuts across the road which is soon left behind once more. The path climbs steadily through shaded woods to l'Albarea and out into. Clearing by a water trough where we rested in the shade for a snack. This was the last water supply before Menton.

Our first view of  the Mediterranean

Some height is then lost to cross the Ravin de Roulabre and several side valleys; all dry. The path climbs steeply to Col du Razet 1032m with a view of the Mediterranean Sea in the heat haze. After the col the path levels out for a while before climbing up to Colla Bassa through dense trees.

The path takes a right turn down a rough track to a muddy bend where a narrow path turns off on the right at 969m. The path passes a small house in the left with a satellite dish. A little further on the route crosses to the other side of the valley where we camped on an abandoned field terrace.

Ascent 865m
Descent 1482m

Abandoned terraces make good camping spots
with the Med in the distance

Maritime Alps - Refuge des Merveilles to Tete de Gais near Sospel on the GR 52

Lac du Trem on route to Cime du Diable

Saturday 31 August 2013

We had a long day ahead and planned to reach a summit today so we headed towards Pas de Trem 2480m, passing several small lakes on the way. We diverted from the GR52 at Lac du Diable and headed for the Pas de Trem so that we could go over Cime du Diable 2685m and then follow the crete South to Baisse Cavaline 2107m where we could rejoin the GR52.

Cime du Diable

The top of Cime du Diable was well worth the extra climb and the Crete made a super route gradually dropping and becoming less rugged as we approached Baisse Cavaline. From here the path is an easy high level route to Col de Rous (1999m) then on to Baisse de St. Veran (1836m).

GR52 Between Col du Raus and Baisse de St Veran looking south

We stopped for lunch at the hill fort on Pointe de Trois Communes (2080m).

After the fort we took the old route of the GR 52 past the abandoned military barracks on Plan Caval where we joined a Tarmac road (encountering the first car for 8 days) for 1.5km to a sharp bend at spot height 1793m, where we took a forest track south, then at spot height 1802m we took the grassy path  that went up a ridge to the east of Mont Giagiabella 1911m.

Looking back along the route of the GR52.
Fine ridge walking for miles!

Then we briefly rejoined the track before taking a path forking left at spot height 1885m uphill, then down to Baisse de Ventabren 1862m. The path swapped to the east of the next top, Pointe de Ventebren on an easy path to Baisse de la Dea 1750m.

Our camping spot on Tete de Gias

The path swapped back to the west side again on a rocky path below Cime de la Gonella.  We then took the path leading directly up Mangiabo 1821m, then followed a sharp right NW back to the GR 52. The path soon turned left down across a steep slope to Tete de Gais where we pitched our tent on a rough grassy spur below Cime du Ters.

Ascent 1086m
Descent 1699m

Sunset trough the tent door

Maritime Alps - Refuge Valmasque to Refuge Merveilles

View south from Baisse de Valmasque looking down Vallee des Merveilles 

Friday 30th August 2013

A relatively short and easy walk today from Refuge de Valmasque (2233m) to Refuge des Merveilles.(2130m) via Baisse de Valmasque (2549m)

We set off about 8.00am and took our time, retracing our steps from Wednesday past the three lakes heading south west to Baisse de Valmasque (2549m).

We had some good close sightings of young male chamoix between lac du Basto and Baisse de Valmasque. The ascent up to the pass was gentle and easy underfoot and gave us a good view north to lac de Basto.

The famous rock carving, Le Christ, in Vallee des Merveilles

We hardly noticed the climbing and were soon dropping down into Vallee des Merveilles, a beautiful valley with a path meandering between little lakes and folling the connecting stream.

The valley narrows to a tight gorge at one point betweenle Chef de Tribe and le Christ; rock carvings that date back to the Bronze Age. The carvings are closely guarded, with only a few easily accesible without paying for a local guide.

After the gorge the valley opens out and the path turn to the south of Le lac Long Superior, where Refuge Merveilles stands close to the barrage.

Ascent 467m
Descent 576m

Maritime Alps - Circular walk from Refuge Valmasque to Collet de la Charnassere

Thursday 29th August

Le Lac Gele

This was supposed to be a rest day. The only  element that made it any easier was that we were not carrying all the gear in our rucksacks.

It was a beautiful morning so after breakfast we crossed the dam behind the refuge Valmasque (2233m)  and followed the the cross country ski route. that heads up to Le Lac Gele.

Le Lac Gele

It is a super route on rock with some easy scrambling sections. Once in the cwm we crossed the strip of ground between the small and large portions of lac Gele (2588m).

We then crossed the scree on the north side of the lake on an indistinct sheep/chamoix track then climbed steeply at the end of the lake up to Collet de la Charnassere (2727m).
The col gave good views across to the border and lac de l'Agnel.

After a bite to eat we took a clearer path south to Pas de la Fous (2828m), fine broad col.

Collete de la Charnassere tot he left with Le lac Gele in the centre

From here we edged along the sharp arete to a small top to gain a better view. After returning to the col we took the main path down from the col on the east side stopping at Lac de la Lusiere. for a snack while we sat there an ibex came to within 5m of us.

Continuing down to the dam for Lac Noir (2278m) was mostly on solid rock with a few patches of snow that were soft enough to grip. We then returned to Refuge de Valmasque where a nice fire was already lit.

Ascent 900m
Descent 888m

Collet de la Charnassere

Le Lac Gele and Lac de la Lusiere

Rocky ridve south of Pas de la Fous 

Ibex

Maritime Alps - Refuge de Nice to Refuge Valmasque via Baisse du Basto

Wednesday 28th August 2013

Near Lac Nire looking west

Self-service breakfast then left at 8.30am for Baisse du Basto, 2693m.

The path weaves its way up the valley initially on an easy path with the occasional rock section, past lac Nice where there are some huge boulders.

Lookin west from Baisse du Basto

The route is clearly marked and passes three more lakes before climbing through solid rock and large boulder scree. The final 2-300m climbs very steeply on loose scree and ice covered rock. The col, Baisse du Basto (2693m) is fairly broad with superb views in all directions.



We scrambled higher on the SW side onto a couple of rocky peaks that had a shelter or look-out post. From the top we had our first glimpse of the Mediterranean coast.

Rocky tops SE of Baisse du Basto

The descent was significantly easier, the path was a gentler gradient and far more stable underfoot. Also there was no verglas as this side had the benefit of the early morning sun to melt the ice. We passed lac Nire, three other small lakes and crossed several snow fields. The snow was quite a surprise as we were so far south and had the Med in our sights!

The final descent to the south of Lac du Basto was a little rougher, crossing large boulders, making our progress slow. Once in the Valmasque valley we headed north on an easy broad path, past 3 lakes (Basto, Noir and Vert) that are infact resorvoirs.

Le Lac Verte with Refuge Valmasque at the far end.

The refuge is located on a rock at the eastern end of Lac de Verte. There are two optional variations for the approach to the refuge. 

The longer one drops to 2205m into the valley below the refuge and is on a track. 

The alternative, shown as a red dotted route on the map, crosses a large glacially smoothed rock. It does not cause any real problems and most people trekking the Alps will have no difficulty with this option if you cannot face dropping down then back up at the end of the day.

We sat on the wooden veranda drinking juice, tea and eating tart enjoying the late afternoon sun.

After our meal we were entertained to some communal singing lead by a ladies choir that were on a walking weekend. They sang mostly British songs from the Beetles etc. so we could join in.

Ascent 667m
Descent 679m

Le lac Verte from Refuge Valmasque

Maritime Alps - Rifugio Soria-Ellena to Refugio Nice via Collette di Finestre

Tuesday 27th August 2013

Our route for today was to take us over the Collette di Finestra ((2474m) down to Refuge Madone de Fenestre, from there over Pas du Mont Colomb (2548m) to La Barme  (2173m) and Refuge di Nice (2232m).

Lovely room with a high level double bed and two bunks, to ourselves in Rifugio Soria-Ellena. The route up the valley towards Collette di Finestra (2471m) initially followed a broad track then zig zagged on a stone built track (that are characteristic of the Alpi Marittime) up to some deserted military barracks at the col.

Looking back towards Col de Fenetre from Lac de Fenetre

 On the French side of the col there are two possinle paths down, we took the the one heading directly south on the left leading to Lac de Fenestre passing ibex and chough on the way down. At about 2050m we took a short cut to avoid dropping all the way down to Refuge Madone de Fenestre. We turned off where the path took a sweeping bend with a very prominent boulder down into a dry valley that lead into a grassy flood plain where several streams converge (Gias Cabret). We clambered up the steep opposite bank through some sparce stunted pine trees to join the GR52. We plan to follow this all the way to Menton on the Mediterranean coast.

Approaching Pas de Mont Colomb with the
gendame in the middle. 

The ascent to Pas de Mont Colomb was spectacular. We  crossed several streams that the guide books describe as dry and the little lake was full. The path crosses a couple of rocky scrambling sections requiring hands and also large boulder scree. This is a very popular area with walkers and we were seeing a lot more people than in Italy.

The col is narrow and tight with a gendame and the descent is very steep on the eastern side. It took about an hour to La Barme then an easy 20min walk up the valley to Refuge de Nice. This is a large modern and rather cold refuge, everyone was wearing their fleeces and coats indoors. It rained for the final 10 min of the approach and continued heavily that evening keeping everyone indoors.

Ascent 1228m
Descent 838m

Pas de Mont Colomb

Pas de Mont Colomb

looking back at Pas de Mont Colomb

Lac de la Fous and Refuge de Nice in the distance.
Sorry about the legs

Maritime Alps - Rifugio Genova Figari to Rifugio Soria Ellena via Collette di Fenestrelle

The views back to the Collette di Brocan
with Fifugio Genova Figari in the foreground .

Monday 26th August 2013


Our destination for today was Rifugio Soria Ellena over the Collette di Finistrelle. It follows the Via Alpina and GTA, both long distance routes through the alps.

The path follows the SE shore of the Bacino del Chiotas then joins the M10 over the col.  climbing gently via zig zags below the  Rocce di Laura. It cleverly avoids the rocky outcrops that appear to block the route.

Looking down from Collette di Fenestrelle
 towards Bacino del Chiotas

We encountered a large patch of snow just before the col that was still hard and icy so we took a cairned route across the rock and boulder scree to join the path on the other side of the snow. We saw no one the entire day, this late in the season it is very quiet.
The views back to the Argenterra massif and the Collette di Brocan that we crossed yesterday were spectacular.

Collette di Fenestrelle from the north side

Collette di Finistrelle (2463m) is a wide grassy col, with a snow patch and small pond, but a cold wind was whistling through making it unsuitable for a stop. We carried on to a rocky outcrop marked P. della Lobbie (2322m).  as it gave fine views  of M. Gelas and our route for tommorrow aver the Collette di Finestra.

M. Gelas and our route for tommorrow
over the Collette di Finestra.

The descent into the Piano del Praiet where Refugio Soria-Ellena is located was very easy on grassy paths across flower meadows. All very Sound of Music like!
There  were juniper, beech 9growing as a shrub), azelia and bilberry laden with delicious fruit. a large herd of cows with bells aroun there necks added to the alpine atmosphere. It started to rain as we arrived at the refuge and later the cloud dropped right down into the valley.
All power in the refuge is supplied by a water turbine  so charging our camera and phone was not a problem and they even had heaters.

Ascent 611m
Descent 774m

Piano del Praiet from P della Lobbie